1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a picture recording/reproducing apparatus for displaying an image, and more particularly to a display apparatus having a display portion of a so-called HMD (Head Mounted Display) type to be mounted on the head.
2. Related Background Art
FIG. 1 is a perspective view to show a construction of a conventional HMD-type display apparatus. The HMD-type display apparatus is of a goggle type to be mounted on the head of a man, which is composed of speakers 91L, 91R arranged in correspondence to the left and right ears of the user, a display portion 92 set in front of the user""s eyes and consisting of a liquid crystal display member, camera portions 93L, 93R, arranged in correspondence to the both eyes of the user as being adjacent to the display portion 92, for taking in image information assumed to be seen through the user""s eyes, and a microphone 94 for taking in voice or the like given by the user. Here, subscripts L, R indicate correspondence to the left (ear, eye) and the right (ear, eye). Further, the apparatus is provided with a control switch 98 (a so-called remote control switch) for the user to input an instruction, and the control switch 98 is connected to the main body portion of the HMD-type display apparatus through a wire cable 97 for transmitting a control signal etc. When the user performs a normal operation such as displaying a certain image on the display portion 92 or stopping the display, the user manipulates the control switch 98 held by hand.
However, in the case of such HMD-type display apparatus, because the user""s eyes are covered by the display portion, the user cannot see the control switch and must grope to manipulate the control switch.
This sometimes caused the user to lose a sense of what the user is manipulating or to do an erroneous operation, which thus made the apparatus very difficult to handle. It is too difficult for the user to carry out a more complicated operation than the operation of xe2x80x9cstart,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cend,xe2x80x9d or so through such a control switch.
An object of the present invention is to provide a display apparatus which is easy for an operator to give an instruction of operation and to which the operator can readily input even a complex operation instruction.
An aspect of the display apparatus of the present invention for achieving the above object is characterized by comprising:
displaying means for displaying video information for an observer;
detecting means for detecting a motion of at least a part of the body of the observer; and
controlling means for making the displaying means display a display element for input of an operation instruction, and starting a process corresponding to the display element when the detecting means detects a specified motion in correspondence to the display element.
A preferred form of the display apparatus is characterized in that the display apparatus is mounted on the head of the observer.
A preferred form of the detecting means is characterized in that the detecting means has visual axis detecting means for detecting a visual axis of the observer.
A preferred form of the controlling means is characterized in that the controlling means has means for comparing a direction corresponding to the display element with a direction of the visual axis detected by the visual axis detecting means.
A preferred form of the controlling means is characterized in that the controlling means has means for displaying a display element moving in accordance with the motion detected by the detecting means, on the displaying means.
A preferred form of the controlling means is characterized in that the controlling means has means for changing a display property of the display element moving in accordance with the motion detected by the detecting means.
The display apparatus is characterized by further comprising sound generating means for generating a sound, wherein the controlling means makes the sound generating means function when the detecting means detects the specified motion.
A preferred form of the detecting means is characterized in that the detecting means comprises image taking means for taking in an image of at least a part of the body of the observer, and means for detecting a motion of the at least part of the body of the observer from an image signal from the image taking means.
A preferred form of the image taking means is characterized in that the image taking means has a plurality of image taking means with parallax.
A preferred form of the detecting means is characterized in that the detecting means has means for detecting a hand or a finger of the observer within a spatial range preliminarily determined.
The display apparatus is characterized by further comprising communicating means for transmitting a signal to a device installed outside the apparatus, wherein the controlling means makes the displaying means display a display element corresponding to the device, and transmits a predetermined signal through the communicating means to the device when the detecting means detects the specified motion in correspondence to the device.
A preferred form of the controlling means is characterized in that the controlling means comprises means for preliminarily storing features of an object, and means for comparing the image signal with the features stored.
The display apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail with some embodiments in the following description.